On November 25, 1999, six-year-old Elian Gonzalez was rescued from the Atlantic after the boat in which he and his mother and others were fleeing Cuba for the US capsized and his mother drowned.
His great-uncle in Miami was granted temporary custody of Elian and sought asylum for him.
Fidel Castro and Elian's father Juan Miguel Gonzalez demanded Elian's return to Cuba.
The Clinton administration weighed honoring the dead mother's wishes in bringing Elian to freedom and placating the Cuban exile community, or bending to Cuban pressure and strengthening Cuban-American relations.
Vietnam demanded Elian be returned to Cuba.
Based on US and international law, the INS ruled that Elian belonged with his father and should be returned to Cuba.
The Miami relatives insisted Elian didn't want to return and appealed to Attorney General Janet Reno.
Reno upheld the father's right to custody and ignored Florida court interference, stating immigration was a federal matter.
The relatives challenged the INS ruling, then appealed their suit's dismissal.
Reno met with the relatives and ordered them to surrender Elian.
They refused, and on April 22 federal agents seized Elian in a pre-dawn raid and reunited him with his father who had come to Washington, DC to bring Elian home.
Riots and strikes broke out in Miami.
The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled for the government and Elian's father, later reaffirming its decision.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the Miami relatives.
Elian returned to Cuba on June 28, 2000.
